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Peavy laughs off dirty-hand controversy

Peavy laughs off dirty-hand controversy

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By Corey Brock
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MLB.com |

SAN FRANCISCO -- The day after having to answer questions about photos that showed his dirty right hand after a start on Saturday, Padres pitcher Jake Peavy was still laughing at the suggestion that he might have doctored the baseball.

"It's comical," Peavy said prior to the Padres' game Monday at AT&T Park. "When they showed me the picture, I laughed. I've got no foreign substance on my hand -- period. I have got no problem saying that or being checked anytime."

Photos of a dark substance on Peavy's hand circulated after he tossed a two-hitter in the Padres' 4-1 victory over the Dodgers on Saturday at PETCO Park, a complete-game victory with eight strikeouts.

The images were reportedly still shots taken from the televised broadcast of the game.

Peavy said his hands were dirty because of a mix of dirt and rosin, the results of having thrown 116 pitches over nine innings. His manager, Bud Black, concurred.

"I think what happens is, when you play baseball, your hands get dirty," Black said Sunday. "He had dirty hands. Trying to keep his palms and fingers dry, you apply rosin and dirt. Rosin is a sticky substance, and as often as he goes to the rosin bag, as often as he goes to the dirt to sop up the moisture, your hands get dirty.

"I don't think there is anything to it. Modern cameras can pick up a dirty hand."

Peavy said he frequently uses the rosin bag on the mound during a game because "grip is something we have to worry about. But that's why we have rosin back there; you mix it with dirt during the game and you're blowing on your hand."

That photos of Peavy circulated on the Internet after the game came as no surprise to the Cy Young winner.

"Today, nothing surprises you with the Internet," he said. "There are so many things that get blown out of proportion. It's like any time you do something positive, there's going to be someone trying to cause some speculation. It's not going to bother me. I'm not going to let it affect me."

As for speculation that he might have doctored the baseball, Peavy, who has won his first two starts of the season, said he can't worry about that, as he knows he has done nothing wrong.

"I really can't control what people have said," Peavy said. "It's a big story in L.A., and I don't have a lot of friends in L.A."

Corey Brock is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.